Belgorod priest asked for political asylum in the United States

Journalist Alexei Gorbachev on his Facebook page (the social network belongs to Meta, which is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) informed that the Belgorod Archpriest Fyodor Shumskikh requested political asylum in the United States.

According to the journalist, the archpriest requested asylum at the border with Mexico, and a few days ago he arrived in Washington. “Archpriest Fedor said that he was suspended from service in the church. He opposes the Russian invasion of Ukraine and decided to leave Russia. Now he and his six children and wife need help with settling in the United States. Assistance is being supervised by the community of the Church of St. Nicholas in Washington, an Orthodox church opposed to the war,” wrote Alexei Gorbachev.

In the Belgorod and Stary Oskol diocese declaredthat the archpriest who left Russia was always “disagreeing with something or someone” and was in no hurry to correct “this feature”. In 2009, he was temporarily banned for tempting sermons and behavior inconsistent with pastoral ethics, and in 2010 for disrupting services and fighting in the Korsun church. According to the diocese, the behavior of the archpriest often shocked those around him: after the funeral, he allegedly could afford, pointing to the deceased, to say that he was already in hell, and also compared the highest church meetings with party congresses.

In May 2022, Father Fyodor secretly left Russia with his family, after which he was banned for the third time for leaving the parish without permission. The diocese noted that he did not publicly oppose the special military operation. “The community of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Washington really has a lot of work to do, and first of all, this work should be aimed at appeasing and calming Father Theodore,” the diocese concluded.

Sergei Tolmachev, Voronezh